IP MAN: KUNG FU MASTER

Ip lived through tumultuous times, including the Boxer Rebellion and the Sino-Japanese War. 'Ip Man: Kung Fu Master' harks back to Ip's early days before the Communist Revolution in 1949, when he was a police captain in Foshan (something which, surprisingly, hasn't been explored in any of the previous films based on his life). Here, he is framed for the murder of an extremely cool mobster Third Father (a smooth Michael Wong), and targeted for vengeance the criminal's heir (Wanliruo Xin in the standout role). Compelled to quit the force, Ip then has to deal with the invasion of the Japanese army in Guangzhou.

Making a film about Ip involves the tricky proposition of getting an audience invested in a real-life figure whose fate is preordained. Also, Ip famously eschewed embellishment and favoured humility, so he wasn't exactly the most colourful character. This means that the fresh twist and potentially fun premise of 'Ip Man: Kung Fu Master' - a martial arts deity working the streets a tough-as-nails cop - is muted by Ip's bland persona, despite To's skill with the fight choreography (he previously portrayed the kung fu expert in Herman Yau's 'Ip Man: The Legend Is Born,' and Jeff Lau's 'Kung Fu League').

The 'Ip Man' films go down well in mainland China because the franchise shamelessly panders to the usual government-friendly nationalist types. Look at the model traditional Chinese man, he's got great kung fu, he's polite and humble, his house looks like a Chinese culture museum, and so on. Then the evil Japanese (or British, Americans, Mike Tyson, etc) come along, and colonialist shit ensues. To call 'Ip Man' a franchise of historical movies based on the life of a real man is the equivalent of calling 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter' a biopic movie.

In Western countries, the 'Ip Man' films are sought out by action nerds because of the sublime fight scenes, not for the propaganda value. For example, in the Donnie Yen-starring series, Sammo Hung's fight choreography is clever and exciting, with sequences that have Ip felling a sword-wielding rival with a feather duster, holding off two men with a ten-foot pole, or pummelling a room full of karatekas.

Unfortunately, 'Ip Man: Kung Fu Master' plays out like a collection of greatest hits vignettes barely connected to one another. Just as cursory as its portraiture are its kung fu battles, which are staged with bland competence yet prove devoid of novelty or excitement, in large part because there's never anything at stake. That's also true of the climax, in which Ip finally faces off against the main baddie (the Japanese officer who killed his friend, just like in Wilson Yip's 2008 film) in a showdown that's utterly perfunctory.

From its okay beginning to serviceable close, 'Ip Man: Kung Fu Master' is a somewhat monotonous, wannabe-mythmaking biopic for Ip completists only.